More than 5,200 repairs made in Oakland pothole blitz

Roads took a beating from the heavy rain this past winter, but Oakland leaders are promising a smoother ride. (KGO-TV)

KGO

By Tiffany Wilson

Thursday, August 03, 2017

OAKLAND, Calif. (KGO) --

Roads took a beating from the heavy rain this past winter, but Oakland leaders are promising a smoother ride. More than 5,000 potholes were filled a lot of work has been done but city leaders admit, there's still a lot of work to do.

After seven weeks of working 12 hours a day, Mayor Libby Schaaf says city crews have filled 5,208 potholes and repaved 1.6 miles of Oakland streets.

"Our city streets have suffered from decades of neglect and under funding. But thanks to the generosity of Oakland voters who passed Measure KK last year by more than 82 percent of the vote, for the first time we will be knocking down backlog of street repairs in this city," said Schaaf.

Mayor Schaaf says Oakland has built up nearly a half billion dollars in un-funded street maintenance and right now about half of the city's 800 miles of streets need some level of repair.

City leaders know the potholes cause real problems, from damaged rims, to flat tires, to bike spills and pedestrian falls -- so Oakland is looking to hire 20 more street repair workers right now.

"Oaklanders want to be proud of what they see when they walk out the door," said Ryan Russo, OakDOT Director.

Repair crews are working off a five year plan, prioritizing streets that are in the worst shape and get the most traffic. If you haven't seen a fix in your area yet, they ask for patience.

If you see a significant pothole, city leaders are asking you to report it through the See Click Fix app.